Matchmaker Patti Novak opens Vegas branch

Matchmaker Patti Novak has been called the “scolding mother hen of dating,” but that hasn’t stopped the Buffalo native from taking her successful introductions business to Las Vegas.

“I’m going to be bicoastal for the next couple of years,” said Novak, who also has a relationship advice column in The News. “I think it’s needed out here. There’s such a lack of integrity in the matchmaking industry out west.”

High Desert Introductions opened its Vegas office earlier this month for residents of Arizona, Utah, California and Las Vegas. Novak’s daughter, Jessica Novak, who has worked at Buffalo-Niagara Introductions since it opened in December 2001, will run the Western New York office on Niagara Falls Boulevard.

Before writing a relationship advice book,“Get Over Yourself,” Novak starred in “Confessions of a Matchmaker,” a 2007 A&E reality series that gave her, and her tough-love style, a national spotlight.

The series, shot in Buffalo, featured some of the city’s grittier characters whom the producers were quick to nickname. Some of them will join Novak from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday for “Linked Up,” a networking event at Statler City, 107 Delaware Ave. Tickets are $15 presale; $25 at the door.

They include:

• Charlie Ciotta, a Williamsville barber and former Mr. Nude Universe, who is now married, according to Novak. “I’m certain he doesn’t eat with his fingers anymore,” she said.